Becoming Queen

Chapter 20: Broken friendship

Day of the funeral

Sofia

"Sweetie".

Crouching down in front of Finn, I pressed a gentle kiss on his cheek as he stared at himself in the mirror.

"You know you don't have to come. It's not something that young children attend".

Finn neatened his little bow tie and looked at me through the reflection of the mirror and gave me a small nod.

"I know. I'm sad, but I want to say one last goodbye to mummy and daddy. I know they're with me. I see them every night. They're laughing and smiling telling me how much they love me, how much they love us. I want to be there. I do".

Finn cupped my cheeks ensuring I looked straight into his eyes desperate for me to take in every word. Even though the idea of him attending unsettled me, I didn't want to deny him from saying one last goodbye.

"Please, let me say goodbye" he whispered with puppy dog eyes.

"Okay sweetheart. But if it gets too much, Grandma can take you home".

Finn nodded his head up and down before stroking his little hand on my face.

Kissing him on his little button nose, I slowly stood up and looked over to the bathroom to see Amelia staring aimlessly into the mirror with sadness etched onto her face. She was stubborn like me. She was there for me when I broke down, but she never let me in. She was happy around us, but it didn't stop me from listening to her cry into her pillow every night.

But every time I reached out to help her, she'd lie and say she was fine. At 11 years old she was acting like an adult who'd been through hell. She was far from being a child.

"Hello loves".

I looked up at the door to see my Grandma walking in with a sad smile. She was trying to stay strong, but I could tell she was on the verge of tears. 

"Hi Nana" Finn waved from the mirror and picked up the bouquet he had chosen from the local floral shop.

"Hi honey" she smiled as she crouched down to embrace the walking sunshine.

I gave Grandma a shy smile as she raised a brow at Finn's outfit colour choice. Even though we were all wearing black, Finn refused to wear anything dark. He said mum always dressed him in bright colours so he could spread the love and happiness around to others. Bit funny as mum's entire wardrobe was black.

Finn was dressed in a white shirt with light blue dungarees, a small little grey bow-tie and of course a flower in his pocket. No matter how many times I tried to recommend a simple black suit, nothing could sway his mind.

"Do you think mummy and daddy will like the flowers I bought?" he innocently held up the bouquet in front of Nana with worry in his eyes. For he didn't want to make any mistakes on this sad day.

"Oh my little cherub, they're so beautiful. I know they'd love them. You're the best at picking out flowers" Nana cooed causing Finn's cheeks to turn pink.

"Be sure to hold onto those flowers darling because we need to go".

Nana called out for everyone and one by one, I watched my siblings follow after her. But as Giovanni stepped out of my bedroom dressed in black, Amelia turned and gave him a death glare.

She was angry to discover that I had asked Giovanni to come with me to the funeral. Angry to the point where she didn't speak to me for 2 days straight. She couldn't shift the uneasy feeling she told me about. And no matter how many times Giovanni tried to talk to her, she'd simply ignore him and walk away.